Tag Archive for tariffs

Waymo claims autonomous cabs protect peds and bike riders, and tariffs endanger threatened American bike industry

Day 122 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Waymo says that after five years in use, their autonomous taxis are up to 25 times safer for bike riders and pedestrians than the vehicles with people behind the wheel.

The company’s cars have completed 56.7 million miles in operation, resulting in a total of 96 crashes with just four serious injuries.

That compares with an average of roughly 78 serious injury crashes over the same distance for human drivers.

I took my first ride in a Waymo  yesterday, and while appreciated the way it braked when necessary due to cars pulling out in front of it, I ended up getting carsick due to the frequent turns to avoid major streets.

No stars, would not recommend.

Photo from Waymo website

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More bad tariff news, as an open letter from People For Bikes warns that Trump’s tariffs will have “devastating impacts” on the already endangered bicycle industry if they aren’t adjusted in the short term.

And went on to point out that companies already assembling bikes in the US are struggling to survive.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.   

A Washington State bike rider reported being shot with a BB gun by someone in a passing car, suffering injuries on his thigh and stomach. Which police should take just as seriously as any other drive-by shooting, considering the possibility of permanent injuries or a deadly crash.

No bias here. The BBC staged an “us versus them” debate on the hostility faced by bike riders, asking listeners “Is public sympathy for cyclists wearing thin?”

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Local 

Lime is planning to add 2,000 dockless ebikes across the Los Angeles area, adding to the company’s thousands of e-scooters, calling it the start of a new green era in preparation for the 2028 Olympics. Although the way things are going in Los Angeles, it may be the about only green transportation for the Olympics.

Metro Bike Share is hosting a Westwood to the Waves community bike ride on Sunday, and a Stronger Tides, Stronger Community ride from Mar Vista to Venice on Saturday, May 10th.

Pasadena police will conduct a bicycle safety operation on Friday, May 16th, focusing on behaviors and violations by drivers that put people on bicycles at risk — although once again, it’s illegal to target any one particular group, rather than all road users.

 

State

The owner of specialty fire-glass manufacturer SAFTI FIRST donated 50 new mountain bikes to UC Merced, which will be distributed to several campus organizations including the bike club and the campus bicycle loaner program.

The San Mateo Daily Journal examines the reasons behind an increase in bicycling crashes in urban areas. And for once, the people on two wheels don’t get the blame. 

A pair of San Francisco LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS organizations will host competing fundraising stage rides to Sonoma County next year, in the wake of the demise of the annual AIDS/LifeCycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Novato-based Santa Cruz Bicycles is recalling the batteries for their Heckler 9 Ebikes due to a risk of fires.

 

National

Oregon Republicans want to eliminate funding for all transit, rail and bicycle programs, requiring the state transportation department to focus on its “core mission” to support car and truck drivers. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up. 

Colorado is implementing a two-year, $167 million to fix the deadly nine-mile Diagonal Highway between Boulder and Longmont, where 17-year old US National Cycling Team member Magnus White was killed by a sleep-deprived, possibly intoxicated driver two years ago.

As the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator nears the end of its first session, an Ozarks public radio station talks with one of its first beneficiaries as he works to bring the world’s lightest bike lock to market.

If you build it, they will come. New York built or upgraded a record 110 miles of protected bike lanes, resulting in a record level of ridership, with an estimated 226 million bicycling trips each year across the city. Meanwhile, Los Angeles built less than 107 miles of bike lanes of any type over the last three fiscal years. And has no idea how many bike trips are taken in the city each year. 

 

International

Momentum recommends the best North American rail trails to ride this summer, one of which is actually in (Northern) California.

Road.cc highlights a handful of innovative bike security solutions. I’ll take than underground bike parking vault, please.

Speaking of Lime, a writer for Road.cc says it’s time to stop whining about the dockless ebikes blighting neighborhoods and crowding out regular bike riders, because they’re “currently the jewel in Britain’s diminutive active travel crown.”

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist talks with Spanish ultra-endurance cyclist and runner Juan Dual, who has competed in some of the world’s toughest races, despite having his large intestine, rectum, stomach and gall bladder removed due to a genetic condition causing cancer of the digestive system.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you drop four grand on a Canyon bike on Amazon, and can’t even get next day delivery. Listen my children and you shall hear, of a bunch of people on bicycles re-enacting the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

And that feeling when you somehow manage to sideswipe a parked bus on your ebike.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Support protected bike lanes on PCH, bikemakers spinning from Trump’s tariffs, and two men murdered over stolen bikes

Day 105 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Streets For All is urging you to voice your support for protected bike lanes on Pacific Coast Highway at tonight’s virtual community workshop. Or at least email your support.

Tell Caltrans:
We Need Protected Bike Lanes On PCH!

Caltrans is releasing a draft of the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Studyfor a 60-day public review period. They are hosting two virtual community workshops and will be taking comment via email.

While the current plan includes some protected bike lanes, there will be a gap between Rambla Pacifico Street and Carbon Canyon Road. Tell Caltrans that ALL bike lanes on PCH need to be protected, for the safety of drivers, bikers, and pedestrians.

Virtual Community Work Shops

Wednesday, April 16, from 6 – 8 PM Join here

Monday, May 12, from 1 – 3 PM Join here

Can’t make it to either meeting? Use the button below to send an email comment to Caltrans!

EMAIL PUBLIC COMMENT HERE [BE SURE TO EDIT THE BOTTOM!]

Photo from Caltrans press release.

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Once again, Trump’s tariffs on bicycles, and the industry’s response to them, are the common theme in today’s news.

The Liberty Justice Center, described as a libertarian public-interest firm, has filed the first suit over Trump’s tariffs, arguing he overstepped his authority as president in imposing them.

Indiana’s Guardian Bikes is responding to the new tariffs with $39 million in new financing to re-shore their manufacturing by building the country’s first large-scale framebuilding operation. Although they could be in trouble if our mercurial president cancels them.

Britain’s Starling Cycles is offering a worldwide 5% discount on their handmade steel mountain bikes to partially offset Trump’s 10% tariff on British imports.

Taiwanese bikemaking giant Giant Manufacturing suffered a decline in sales last month after a massive 31% boost in February, as the market appeared to be responding to the threat of tariffs.

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It’s happened again. And again.

Disputes over stolen bikes sadly turned deadly, taking the lives of two men on opposite sides of the country.

Two Portland men are in custody on murder and theft charges, and police are looking for another person of interest, after a man was killed confronting the suspects as they allegedly tried to steal a bicycle from his car; the victim was described as one of the town’s “sweetest souls.”

And a New York man was fatally stabbed in the stomach, the allegedly stolen bike left lying in the street as he died; a suspect was taken into custody afterwards, however, there’s no word on whether he was the thief or the victim of the theft.

As we’ve said too many times before, no bicycle is worth your life. We all love our bikes, but seriously, just let it go and live to ride another day.

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This one bears repeating if you missed it yesterday.

Air quality in Paris, France improved dramatically as the city shifted from car-choked streets to a bicycle and pedestrian friendly 15-minute city, with nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter dropping by 50% and 55%, respectively, over just the last 20 years.

Which is exactly what can and should happen in Los Angeles, if our elected leaders would stop fighting efforts to improve safety and shift to greener streets.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a very big if.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps going on.   

No surprise here. Bicyclists taking part in Sunday’s 18th annual Tour de Houston soundly booed the city’s mayor, after he ordered protected bike lanes ripped out and replaced by sharrows.

No bias here. Cornwall, England city leaders reversed course and decided bike riders are welcome at the city’s recycling centers, after one man was told he couldn’t ride his bike up to one, and needed to arrive in a car or truck if he wanted to recycle his trash instead of sending it to the dump.

A Dublin, Ireland city counselor elevated the “I’m a cyclist, but…” cliche to a whole new level, continuing his efforts to block a planned new bike lane after an appeals court overturned a previous ruling blocking it — despite claiming that he rides his bike to work every day, and supports bike lanes “where appropriate in the right areas.” Here’s a clue for him: Bike lanes are appropriate anywhere and everywhere cars are allowed on the streets, if only because they’re not needed anywhere else. 

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Local 

Speaking of PCH, you may be able to resume riding on the highway this summer, as Governor Newsom promises it will reopen by the end of May, after closing in January due to the Palisades Fire.

 

State

About damn time. A bill in the California legislature would create a new class of electric bikes, reclassifying throttle-controlled bikes without pedals as “eMotos,” while clarifying they are intended as offroad vehicles, rather than bicycles.

Gear Junkie offers highlights from last week’s Sea Otter Classic, including a new 3D-printed honeycomb bike helmet.

 

National

Authorities are looking for a missing 16-year old Kansas girl with mental health issues who disappeared after going out for a bike ride.

Massachusetts is ready to launch their ebike rebate program, offering 3,000 vouchers for up to $1,200 off the purchase of an ebike. That’s three times as many vouchers as California will release at the end of this month, in a state with less than one-fifth the population. 

 

International

Momentum recommend’s 30 of the world’s most beautiful bicycle routes, including a handful right here in the good ol’ USA.

An American woman who grew up in the Netherlands is working on her Ph.D by riding her bike 1,200 miles across England to talk to female farmers about the future of food production.

Germany’s Avnson is introducing a folding stretch e-cargo bike, which seems to fold into a very awkward shape reminiscent of Picasso’s cubist period.

Bike tourism is booming on the island of Mallorca off the coast of Spain, up 30% compared to this time last year.

The three young Black men known as the Gauta BMX completed their thousand-mile bike ride from Limpopo to Cape Town, South Africa, on a mission to inspire young people across the country while raising awareness about gender-based violence

The family of late Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins complained that her husband, former Olympic and world champ Rohan Dennis, has shown no remorse for her death, and sees himself as the victim despite accidentally killing her when she fell off his SUV, although Hoskins’ mother said she didn’t think Dennis would intentionally harm her.

 

Competitive Cycling

The great Alberto Contador says he was forced to ride a prettier, but slower bicycle in the Tour de France one year, despite complaining it wasn’t as fast as the previous year’s model.

The Cycling Federation of Belize is attempting to recruit more women cyclists, with only ten female bike racers currently registered in the entire country.

 

Finally…

Your dog — living or stuffed, apparently — can now ride your bike like ET. And forget the bike cam, just get a new drone to follow everywhere you ride.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

SAFE introduces 2025 legislative agenda, call to action on deadly Crystal Springs Drive, and how tariffs will effect bike biz

Day 99 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Please join me in welcoming back — and thanking — Los Angeles Bicycle Attorney Josh Cohen of Cohen Law Partners, who renewed their sponsorship of this site for another year. 

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Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, unveiled their legislative agenda for the current session yesterday.

The group is currently co-sponsoring four bills, hoping to add to their impressive record of success in getting bills passed and signed into law:

AB 891
Quick-Build Project Pilot Program.
Stance: Co-Sponsor (Priority)

AB 891 establishes the Quick-Build Project Pilot Program within the department’s maintenance program to accelerate low-cost projects on the state highway system and fund at least six projects by December 31, 2028.

SB 455
Electric motorcycles and electric bicycles.
Stance: Co-Sponsor (Priority)

SB 455 improves labeling requirements for electric bicycles, e-mopeds, etc. It prohibits labeling 2-wheeled electric vehicles as electric bicycles if they can reach a speed exceeding 28 miles per hour. It also mandates customer notifications for products that no longer meet the electric bicycle definition, with violations subject to criminal penalties.

SB 720
Automated traffic enforcement system programs.
Stance: Co-Sponsor (Priority)

SB 720 would establish a new opt-in red light camera program with $100 civil fines (not moving violations) to the owners of vehicles that run red lights. There are stricter privacy equity provisions, solving many reasons why most cities don’t use the current red light camera law.

AB 954
State transportation improvement program: bicycle highway pilot program.
Stance: Co-Sponsor (Priority)

This bill would create a bicycle highway pilot program to test its feasibility in two yet-to-be-named major metropolitan areas. Bicycle highways are networks restricted to bicyclists intended for trips primarily at least 5 miles in length at travel speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.

The traffic safety advocacy group is also supporting 27 bills, while requesting amendments to six bills.

SAFE also opposes three others, including a ban on towing or impounding vehicles for unpaid tickets, and removing high-speed rail funding from the state’s cap-and-trade program.

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Speaking of SAFE, the group says fully funded and shovel-ready improvements to deadly Crystal Springs Drive in LA’s Griffith Park are being needlessly delayed by red tape, three years after Andrew Jelmert was killed on the street while training for the AIDS/LifeCycle fundraising ride.

This Griffith Park active transportation plan, the funding, and the contracts to begin the most significant safety improvement upgrade to Griffith Park in decades, possibly ever, have been ready to start since mid-2024. We have recently found out they are currently held up in bureaucratic red tape by LA Recs and Parks.

As we come up on the eve of the third anniversary of Andrew Jelmert’s fatality, there is still no target date to start construction on the expected safety improvements on Crystal Springs Drive. Despite the initial push and commitment from the city to transform parts of the park and safeguard the lives of those who use it, the bureaucracy has caused safety improvements to grind to a screeching halt.

The group urges you to email Recs and Parks General Manager Jimmy Kim to demand that that Crystal Spring Drive be made safe for the pedestrians, bicyclists, families and kids who need it the most.

Just click on the link above to email Kim and other city officials. You can click here to find a customizable sample letter (scroll all the way down).

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Today’s common theme is Trump’s tariffs and their effect on the bike industry.

And your next bike.

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It looks like the first leg of Metro’s Rail-to-Rail Trail is open along Slauson Ave.

It’s open!! Or at least a little stretch of it! Slauson bike lane. So happy!
byu/cesgar21 inBikeLA

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps going on.   

Seriously? Boston’s mayor admits that she made a mistake in ripping out the barriers protecting a number of bike lanes, and pledges that not only would they be replaced, but some car-tickler bendy-post bollards would also be replaced with more permanent and durable materials. I’m sure her dramatic change of heart had nothing to do with the outrage of bike-riding voters as she prepares to face re-election. 

No bias here. Former Top Gear presenter James May says he’s a “big fan” of urban bicycling, but bike lanes are overdone and “pedantic.”

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.   

This one could go under either category, as a 21-year old man in the Netherlands was hospitalized, and a 22-year old woman knocked off her bicycle, after they were shot with gel guns — similar to paintball guns — as they were riding their bikes, following an argument with kids on e-fatbikes.

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Local 

A state grant is funding bike and pedestrian safety improvements near affordable housing developments in South LA, including a traffic circle and two miles of protected bike lanes. And yes, it also includes five mile sharrows, which have been shown to be worthless at best, if not downright dangerous.

Police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who killed a woman riding an e-scooter on South Figueroa, in the Vermont Vista neighborhood of South LA.

 

State

The Orange County Cycling Business Coalition, which could use a snappier name, is hosting a Community Bike Tour exploring Irvine, offering either a five-mile ride loop or a 25-mile ride examining some of the city’s 113 miles of off-street bike trails and 286 lane miles of on-street bikeways. Which translates to 143 miles of streets with bike lanes, because lane miles counts each side of the street separately.

The beachside city of Del Mar preliminarily approved a new ebike ordinance; the new ordinance would include “obeying traffic laws, yielding to pedestrians and wearing a helmet,” as well as requiring ebike users to use bike lanes on any street that has them. Although it doesn’t say who would be required to wear a helmet; they lack legal authority to require them for anyone over 18. 

A Santa Barbara professor shares the facts, and the heartbreak, of bike theft.

San Luis Obispo is the latest California city to adopt a Vision Zero Plan. Let’s just hope they take it more seriously than Los Angeles has. 

Sad news from Clovis, where a boy was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle; and yes, the woman who hit him stayed at the scene and didn’t appear to be under the influence.

Los Altos has removed parking and installed semi-green bike lanes on iconic El Camino Real.

 

National

A Utah man took his 70-something parents on a 400-mile bike ride across the Canadian border, even though they were bicycling beginners.

Reports of blocked bike lanes are “exploding” in Denver, forcing people to ride out into traffic, which kind of defeats the whole purpose. And kind of like pretty much every other American city. 

About time. Colorado legislators have introduced a bill to increase penalties for killing someone on a bicycle by reclassifying the crime of careless driving – causing death as a felony, rather than a misdemeanor.

Interesting idea from DC, where officials launched a new traffic safety campaign by having people walk near busy intersections wearing old-school sandwich signs, with messages like “Follow the rules of the road. Slow down. Don’t nip corners. Don’t jump the gun.”

Atlanta could be preparing for a second round of ebike vouchers, after funding 579 new bikes the first time around. Which would make it one more round than California’s seemingly moribund program has managed so far.

 

International

London bike riders seem largely unimpressed with the new bus service shuttling them across a busy bridge, saying it’s a far cry from the tunnel under the Thames they had been promised.

Even a British reality star, and distant relative of King Charles, had his bicycle stolen while locked up in London, despite using three separate bike locks worth a combined 250 bucks.

This is why people keep dying on the streets. An 11-year old boy in the UK was killed when a bus driver honked at him while passing, startling the kid into swerving towards and under the bus — yet an inquest ruled the driver didn’t do anything wrong.

 

Competitive Cycling

Reggie Miller urged UAE Team Emirates to make him an honorary member of the cycling team, with the 59-year old former NBA star promising to trade much needed lessons in how to shoot baskets. Which could offer a whole new dimension to bike racing by painting a three-point line on the course and giving the peloton a ball or two. Or maybe each team gets a ball, and has to sink a three-pointer before proceeding. It could work. 

 

Finally….

A bike helmet maker says you need more padding on your butt. A 12-year old cat has probably ridden more cross-country miles than you have.

And sometimes you don’t need GPS to know where you’re riding.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Civil rights complaint filed against administrator of CA ebike incentive; loophole closed on Chinese imports

Day 35 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas abruptly resigned, despite winning re-election to a second term in November, citing fears for her personal safety over her support for a sanctuary city.

Or maybe it had something to do with a civil rights complaint filed with the EPA citing close ties to Ed Clancy, head of the San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead, which administers the California ebike incentive program.

The complaint alleges the ebike voucher program discriminates against Black people, making their vouchers harder to redeem and charging additional fees, along with a number of other allegations.

Just one more example of the total shitshow this program has devolved into.

The only question here is whether the DOJ investigation Reichert mentions is the state investigation we already knew about, or whether a federal investigation has been launched as well.

Thanks to Malcolm Watson for the heads-up.

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Despite lifting the new tariffs on Mexico and Canada yesterday, at least temporarily, Trump allowed the additional 10% punitive tariff on goods imported from to go into effect, as we discussed yesterday.

Adding insult to financial injury, he is also reportedly closing the de minimis loophole, which allows goods from China valued below $800 to be shipped directly to the consumer, bypassing import duties and regulatory scrutiny.

That’s what allows Chinese websites such as Shein and Temu to offer such low prices.

It’s also what has allowed low-end Chinese ebikes sold through Amazon and Walmart to flood the market.

So it may not necessarily be a bad thing. Even if it means you could pay more for components.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

San Mateo, California is taking a page from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s playbook, with a vote last night to consider ripping out the two-year old Humboldt Street bike lanes because drivers are whining about a loss of parking.

No bias here. An English town is benevolently lifting a ban on bicycles on the city’s main shopping street after four years — but only permitting bicycles restricted to the same hours as delivery trucks, rather than allowing the access other shoppers and employees enjoy.

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Local  

Long Beach will hold a public town hall meeting to discus the city’s Orange Avenue Backbone Bikeway Project a week from Thursday.

 

State

Calbike asks, not unreasonably, why there’s still no new bill in the state legislature to legalize Stop As Yield, aka the California Safety Stop, aka the Idaho Stop Law, after two new studies showed it works, improving safety for bicyclists while reducing conflicts at intersections.

The award-winning Arthritis Foundation California Coast Classic Bike Tour is returning for the 25th consecutive year this September.

San Diego continues to fall short of its Vision Zero goals, with 19 people killed by traffic violence in the county last month — including one riding a bicycle that we weren’t previously aware of.

 

National

My bike-friendly Colorado hometown will join other cities across the state in celebrating Valentines Day with a Winter Bike to Work Day, allowing bike riders to spend the day with their one true love — their bicycles. Yet somehow, no one marks the day to encourage people here in Southern California to bike to work in winter, despite having nearly ideal weather for it. Then again, the summer Bike to Work Day has been nearly moribund here post-pandemic, so why should a winter one be any different?

A Florida couple are now both facing charges after investigators concluded the husband lied about being behind the wheel in a deadly hit-and-run that killed an eight-year old girl as she was riding a bicycle, after they discovered he was at work at the time of the crash, and it was the wife who was actually driving.

 

International

Cycling Weekly considers the burning question of when should you replace your bicycle.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. An Irish parliament member is calling for a public inquiry into the death of a 23-year old man riding a bicycle, after it was revealed the driver of the car had 42 previous convictions, including convictions for traffic violations, theft and possession of heroin, and was was on bail at the time of the crash.

Bicyclists in Melbourne, Australia are complaining about new bike lanes that they say is make things more dangerous, because the concrete dividers do nothing to keep drivers from pulling out into the bike lane, keep taxis stopping in them or prevent pedestrians from using them as sidewalks.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mountain Bike Action says Tom Pidcock And Mathieu Van Der Poel could give Switzerland’s Nino Schurter a run for his money as the world’s top cross-country mountain bike racer. 

Pez Cycling News considers the most shocking moments in cycling history, starting with Lance the doper. And Landis the Mennonite doper, too.

A San Luis Obispo website says a secretive, underground, unsanctioned and arguably illegal bike race known as the SLO Little 500 “puts the fun in dysfunction.”

 

Finally…

Celebrate Black History Month by riding brakeless. That feeling when you race through the muck and mud with a $300,000 Swiss watch on your wrist.

And now you, too, can have a built-in handlebar dashboard on your bike. Because there just aren’t enough ways to suck the fun out of bicycling already.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

New tariffs could mean higher prices on bikes and parts, and accused road-raging Fresno driver runs down 3 bike riders

Day 34 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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If you were thinking about buying a bicycle, ebike or parts for your bike, you should do it now, before Trump’s new tariffs kick in.

Or be prepared to fork over more money for it.

The overwhelming majority of bicycles, ebikes and components come from China, which will now be subject to a new 10% tariff, in addition to the previous tariffs.

Those previous tariffs already amount to 36%, according to Bicycle Retailer, with the 25% punitive tariff imposed by Trump in his first term, and continued by Biden, added to the previously existing 11% protective tariff approved by Congress.

Which means that with the new 10% punitive tariff Trump imposed over the weekend, the rate will be 46% added to the cost of anything coming in from China.

And despite Trump’s repeated insistence that it will be a tax on and paid for by China, the added costs cost are likely to passed on to the consumer, amounting to a nearly 50% tax on bikes and components that will have to be paid by someone.

In other words, you.

It could also result in shortages if importers balk at the higher taxes, after bike shop are just getting back to full inventory after the pandemic-fueled shortages.

So don’t wait.

Peddle yourself down to your favorite local bike shop now. Or you could be the one who pays the higher prices, or find yourself unable to buy anything at all.

Photo by Kaboompics.com via Pexels.

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A 23-year old Fresno man faces three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, accused of intentionally running down two teenaged bike riders, as well as another man on a bicycle.

The incident started when the driver got out of his SUV to fight with a group of bike riders on the side of the road, after they had argued on the street.

But following the brawl, the man allegedly drove onto the sidewalk to purposely hit the two teenagers as they tried to ride away.

He then backed off the sidewalk and continued down the street, before swerving into a bike lane to deliberately ram the older man, who does not appear to have any connection to the other group.

Not surprisingly, the driver was assaulted by a group of bike riders following his vehicular attacks. And no, that doesn’t mean it was justified, just understandable given the circumstances.

He was hospitalized with minor injuries, apparently stemming from the assault following the crashes

All three victims were taken to a local hospital, but there’s no word on their condition.

The article from the Fresno Bee appears to be hidden by a paywall, but I was able to click through to read it. 

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The Transit Guy is on this week’s Bike Talk, along with LA bike lawyer and BikinginLA title sponsor Jim Pocrass.

Hayden Clarkin is on this week. AKA the Transit Guy. @bikinginla.bsky.social @bikelanesla.bsky.social @bikelaneuprising.bsky.social

(@taylor-biketalk.bsky.social) 2025-02-01T15:45:12.819Z

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Streets For All will host their monthly virtual happy hour next Wednesday, featuring newly elected Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish.

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Gravel Bike California returns with a ride across the rolling foothills of Bakersfield with Grizzly Cycles.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

No bias here. Citing insufficient evidence, Florida prosecutors refused to charge a road raging 76-year old woman for attempting to run down a man riding a bicycle, after the two argued when she cut him off in a roundabout — even though the whole thing was captured on the victim’s bike cam, as well as two security cams. Which makes you wonder just what they would consider sufficient.

He gets it. The CEO of Lime Bikes chides Londoners for complaining about a single dockless bikeshare bike parked on the sidewalk, when there are hundreds of parked cars cluttering the streets.

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Local  

Friends and fellow cops held a 37-mile memorial ride for LAPD officer Paul Jordan, who was killed in an off-duty crash on the 118 Freeway while driving home from work last week; Jordan was a frequent road cyclist who reportedly loved bicycling.

West Hollywood may be jumping the gun just a tad, as the city is planning first and last mile connections to the K Line subway, which could be decades away since it hasn’t yet been approved, let alone funded; it also may never even reach the city, with three routes remaining under consideration, two of which would bypass WeHo all or in part. But I do applaud the effort. 

South El Monte decided not to decide between two options for a 1.4-mile bike and pedestrian project on Tyler Ave/Santa Anita Ave, tabling the motion for two months after councilmembers balked at the loss of 99 parking spaces. Once again prioritizing the convenience of motorists over the safety of people on bicycles.

 

State

Calbike will host a webinar on February 20th to discuss creative approaches to funding active transportation funding. Which is even more important now, in light of the freezing of federal funding. 

Now you, too, can see Santa Barbara by bike through the eyes of a longtime local.

 

National

Sigh. A writer for Streetsblog says Trump is putting safety last and politics first by freezing the federally funded “Road to Zero” program, in an apparent attempt to undo anything approved by the Biden administration, even though the funds were intended to improve traffic safety in both red and blue states.

An automotive website says there is no truth to the rumor that Tesla is building an ebike, revealing it was dreamed up by a freelance industrial designer and the internet ran with it. But would you really want an electric bicycle made by the manufacturer of the “the polarizing and fault-ridden Cybertruck,” anyway?

Once again, an innocent bike rider was collateral damage for a driver fleeing from the cops, this time in Las Vegas, where police were chasing a juvenile and allegedly unlicensed DUI driver accused of sideswiping an SUV at a high rate of speed, then crashing into another SUV before both vehicles spun onto the sidewalk, killing a 41-year old man riding a bicycle; a St. Louis bike rider was also injured by a driver fleeing from the cops.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A middle school teacher in my Colorado hometown was convicted of misdemeanor careless driving for killing a bike-riding 10-year-old boy while driving distracted, after previously pleading guilty to another lousy misdemeanor for deleting texts and tampering with physical evidence. Because evidently, killing a little boy and trying to hide the evidence just isn’t a big enough deal to warrant a single felony count. Or at least that’s the message drivers will take from this kind of chronic undercharging. 

A Cary, Illinois man is suing the local village after he was right hooked by an on-duty cop while riding in the crosswalk with the light.

The kindness and generosity of the bicycle community is on display once again, as West Springfield, Massachusetts’ Bob “The Bike Man” worked with local boy and girl scout troops to package gear to get the city’s homeless people through the worst of the winter; he’s best known for refurbishing bicycles to give to people in need.

Charlottesville, Virginia is the latest city to offer ebike vouchers, distributing $100,000 to 100 residents this year in the form of $1,000 “mini-grants” intended to encourage ebike use; the grants are available to any resident over the age of 18.

A Tampa, Florida woman marked her 50th birthday by riding 50 three-mile laps around a local island in honor of her father, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, while raising funds  fight to Parkinson’s through Team Fox and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

 

International

An Ontario bike rider responds to the provincial plan to rip out Toronto’s bike lanes by saying “I don’t want to be in this province anymore.” Which is a feeling a lot of us can relate to when government actions — or inaction — threaten our safety.

A new Toronto study shows that a full ten percent of the city’s bicycle traffic consists of delivery riders delivering food.

Cycling Weekly takes up the burning question of why bike lanes in the US and Great Britain end abruptly without connecting to other bikeways . Which pretty much describes most of the bike lanes in the LA area. 

The Guardian’s Laura Laker recommends the best panniers and handlebar bags.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a delivery driver was fined the equivalent of a lousy $1,200 and banned from driving for an equally lousy 12 months, after leaving a woman with a broken neck when he cut across the bike the victim was riding in

Bicyclists in Chennai, India — formerly known as Madras — call for more bike lanes and better infrastructure, and government action to “sensitize” drivers of heavy vehicles to traffic safety. Showing once again that we all face the same issues, regardless of where you ride.

Le Monde Diplomatique reports that Taiwan’s bicycle industry relies on migrant labour and “dodgy employment practices.” But you’ll have to find a way around their paywall if you want to read more than the first few paragraphs.

 

Competitive Cycling

Once again, a promising young cyclist has been killed, this time in the UK, where 18-year old national junior champ Aidan Worden was struck by a driver while on a training ride in Lancashire, England.

A writer for Cycling Weekly says maybe we need more unpredictability in pro cycling, and really don’t want the top riders to compete against each other more often.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you need new-age bike accessories, apparently so you can burn sandalwood incense while you meditate while riding. Evidently, French bike riders can fly over the heads of horses and pedestrians.

And please dismount before breaking your neck riding down the stairs to the Bike Hub at the bottom.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.